Brake mechanism



May 22, 1928.

- R. D. sTRoUP BRAKE MEcHANIsM Original Filed Jan. 10, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet` l May 2z, `192s.

R. p. s'rRouP BRAKE MECHANISM original Filed Jan. 10, 1924 2 sheets-Sheet 2 Il Il lll II III Il Il m m. 3.0M f 5 vPatented May 22, 1928.

.www STATES i Y t 1,670,595

RoBER'rfn. siiRoUr, `or iviARrRANo-n, wnsrgvmernin, ejssIGNonpr ONE-Thinning II.. s. NELsoN, or LESLIE, wns'r VIRGINIA, AND oNn-Tnrnn .To JOHN B. LAING,

oir` LnwIsBUner,l Wns'r VIRGINIA.

l snags ,necrniinsn 'Appii'cationniei Jariua'ry 1o, 1921i, serial No. 635,408.k Renewed october '14,Y 1927.

any time there is a failure of the fiuidjpressure or of the electric current, thel brakes must cease functioning. y Then` too when cars are shifted from 4a train Vto a siding, leakage of air will gradually unset an air I brake, so that a car standing vori-,a grade,

would run away. But the* devices of the prior, artv referred tok above, which have sought to overcome these `difficulties,vv'le're themselves so complicated and costly that their use was impracticable, fand usually also inoperative. One of the chiefr'easons for this was that such prioi` artdevices required double setsof mechanism, including-.aiilcylinders, pipe lines, etc.; one ksfetfor locking and the other for releasing' purposes. changes thus required in such devices from thebrake mechanismin use' at the present time made the changes prohibitive. y

@ne of the objects of thepresent invention is to `provide locking mechanism for a brake which will be positive finjaotion and under the control of the engineer or operator atY all times.

Another object of this` invention is to provide such locking mechanism of Simple vand efficient construction.v I l v i-i further object ofthis invention is to provide simple and efficient releasing mechanism'for the locked brake. l A further objectof this invention` is vto eliminate the use, of retainers. l l

A stillfurther object of this invention `is to. allow the release of such positivelyv lochbrakes at `any time thatit is desirable to go into the femergency"y position.

A still further object of this invention is toprovide such mechanism sothat it may be applied tothe brakes now` in use With a minimum replacement and consequent scrapping "of the old Working parts.

Other and further `'objects and advantages of this invention will appear from the more detailedv descriptionset forth below by way of illustration, in connection `with ,the mechanism illustrated by way of erainple inthe accompanying drawings,wherein Figure 1 shows a pla-1r view of the assembled mecha-- nisin; Figure 2 shows a side'elevation of the mechanism; Figurev 3 shows a vertical section through kthe center of the device; Figurel 4 shows an end 'elevation ofthe .de-

vice; Figure 5 'shows a-:detail in section ofl .the releasing pawl in inoperative position;

Figure 6 shows a detail of theim'proved tform of holding bar; Figure is a side eleY vation of the imprvedholding'bar with a fragmentary-view of the lockingandfrele'ase ing p awls; Figure Q8 is a section on theline '8 8 ofFigure GyFigure 9 isl a'pei'spective of the releasing rod; yFigure 10 is a perspectiveof the rocking dogg Figures 111 and 1Q side and vendelevatic'iiis of the locking pavvl; and Figure 13 a section showing .the lpavvls ,iii operative posit-ibn after initial operation ofthe mechanism; and `Figure lll vshows a detail iiivsection .of 'the releasing pawl in operative position. 1 'n o. i

-But' it will be understood that the/.description and'drawings are to be taken as illustrative only, and not by way of limitation since variousrfchanges may be made in the devices` as illustrated and' described, by those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains, without departing fromthe spirit and'thefscope'I of this invention. l

In generalit kwill be seen that tliiswinvenltion comprises,exceedingly simple means vfor positively locking and releasingl vbrakes which befapplicd towbrakesof all kinds whether operated manually'7 electrically,'ot by fiuidpressiii'e, for example, air, steam,

the device will be shown inuse with air pressure brakes.

In Vflindaine'ntal aspect nthe i vsets forth means operated by` ,the` eztistingaiibraliecylinder to lock the .brake in operative position after it has been set, and means forth above-this invenaiiiiiay te appnea etc. For purposes of illustration however to any type'of brake, although it is illustrated with an air brake. In such adaptation to other forms of brakes, all that is required is 'that there shall be holding bar or its equivalent which is operated by the brake operating mechanism in its `usual course of operation. This bar is then locked by the locking means, and may be' Subsequently releasedby the releasing means. It is immaterial' for the purposes of the present invention whether the holding bar or its equivalent is operated by Huid pressure, electrically, or otherwise. Its application to any of these brakes will be obvious from the detailed description.r Y

Referring more particularly to the draw- K ings there is shownby way of illustration,

the conventional brake cylinder' 1. within whichl reciprocates the usual piston 2, actuating piston rod 3, which extends through the-cylinder .head y4.l In this modification of the invention, the usual cylinder head is replaced by one similar to that illustrated in accordance with the principles of this invention. This cylinder head 4 thus carries a small cylindrical member 5, through the opening of which the piston rod 3 extends. Upon this member 5, and preferably, there are two stripsy 7, 7 which may be made integral with the member 5 and preferably are so made, these strips acting to form a channel 8 within which the holding bar 10 reciprocates. I y

The holding bar 10 carries a rack 11 on its upper face lwhich extends from its inner end of the bar for about half `of its length, more or less, although this exact distance is rgoverned by other considerations or requirements, for example the minimum distance of operation before brake action shall begin. On its outer end 14, the bar 10 carries a depending ear l5 provided with an aperture. or-opening 16 through which opening the brake rod link 20 passes to the brake rod, andl serves to transmit the motion from lthe piston rod to thev brake rod, whereby ythe brake is operated. Due to the bifurcated ear 22 of the link, by means of which it is connected to they bralile rod, when the bar 10 has advanced to its locked operative position, the link cannot move inwardly, but

vits movement in that direction is obviously limited by the ear 15. One of the sides of the bar 10 is cut away to form a 'groove 100 which is beveled at 101 to" the side of the bar. 'This groove is made to receive the releasing .pawl described below.

This groove 100 with its beveled ends 101 may extend'for the entire length ofthe rack 11 on the bar 10, or for only a portion thereof. And while a groove of this character has been used in actual practice, this groove is preferably used in the following modi.- iication. Along its inner portion 102,11- series of 'shoulders 103 are formed. From these shoulders, teeth 104 extend diagonally across the groove to its outside edge, rising at their outer ends so that they are higher at the outer ends thanv at vthe inner ends.

There will generally be as many teeth as there are shoulders 103, and .the number of each may be varied at will, depending on the control desired. Five have been found in practice to give .efficient results.v These shoulders 103 and teeth 104 will'be hereinafter referred to as emergency points and their function will be fully Vdescribed, below. y A cover plate serves'to form a housing for the locking pawl 40 and the releasing pawl 50,. For this purpose it is provided with a` vertically extending hood 31 which has vertical sides 32 and 33 forming the channel within which the locking pawl operates. The side 33 is formed as shown at 34 to provide a bearing surface for the rocking arm 7 3. The remainder of the channel within which the locking pawl yoperat`es,'is formed from a block 35, provided on its upper side or face with thel lower half of the bearing surface for the rocking arm. n In the preferred form, the block35 is integral with the cylinder head 4. The cylindrical member 5 ofthe cylinder h'eadcarries an opening 37 through which the bar 10 moves. The lower end of the channel` referred to above is thusopen to the bar 10 so that locking pawl may ,contactwith the upper face of the bar 10.

This locking pawl 40 is lcut awayas shown at 41 to form an opening for the purposes described below.v The pawl is beveled at its lower' en'd42 so that it can coact with the teeth of the rack bar 10. Atone side 'of' the pawl, a longitudinal channel 43 is cut to receive `the releasing pawl 50.

The releasing pawl is pivoted at 51 for transverse movement in the channel 43, the arm 35 adjacent to this pawl being cut away as at 36 to allow such movement. The pawl 50 is spring pressed as shown at 54 so that in its normal 'position the releasing pawl presses against the side 21 of the rack bar 10, but outside of the groove 100 referred to above. In its operative position however, the pawl 50 rides in the groove 100.

The rocking arm 73 carries a lug 74 rigidly attached thereto as at 7 5. This lug extends within the opening 41 adjacent to the upper part thereof, so that when the rocking arm is rocked counterclockwise on its bearings, the lug serves to raise the loc-king pawl free of the rack on the bar 410. In order to retain the locking pawl inv contact with the teeth of the holding bar 10, a block 44 heldl in place in any desired manner 'is reposed against the 'action of a spring 45, acting against `this block and the lower edge of the opening or passageway 41, serves to press tlievlocking pawl down against/the teeth of the bar 10. The spring 45 may be retained in proper position by means "of any ordinary securing devices, such as lug 46 in the block and the recess i7 in the locking pawl.v The end of the rocking arm Vis'ada'pted to receive a rigidly connected arm 77 which carries a dog 78 pivoted for' free clockwise movement only, to arm 7 7 as at 7 9. If moved countercloe-lnvise, it moves the arm 77.

Further there is provided attached to piston 2, a trip rod or` releasing rod 80 formed at its outer en d with van ear 8l which is designed to ride against the dog 78, When-'the piston is operated so that movement ol the piston carries tl-ieear againstthe dog, trips the latter, which in turn causes the rocking arm to move and actuate the locking pawvl. rlhe releasing or trip bar 80 is preferably constructed as set forth in Figure 9. The

ear 8l is carried upwardly `to form a. WellI rounded extensionor edge 82 over which the vdog 78v moves. The ear Slv'after forming this edgel may drop doivn sharply to the edge of the bar 80 as shown in Figure 9.

It has been found furthermore, that due to the Weight oit' the parts when assembled, that the spring' with its attendant parts may be omitted. much simplified and takes the form 40 p rovided with an opening 4l which receives the lug 74 of the rocking arm- 73.v Thisl paWl may terminate in` a single beveled edge ,Ll-2 as shown in the type 'of device illustrated above or it is preferably formed into several teeth l2 4which serve to give a better grip on the bar 10'. The paivl 40? also carries the`longitudinal channel 43 in which the releasing paivl is pivoted through the pivot ope-nings 5l. The recess 54 `forms a seat tor `the spring 54 Which presses against the upper end of the pawl 50.

TWhen the device has' been assembied with the parts related as described above', it is ready for use andoperates as follows. 'lfhe'n the engineer applies the brakes, the piston rodgm'oves outwardly and hymen-ns of the 'brake rod, the brakes are brought into op# erative position. At the same time the pistonmoves against the inner end of the bar 10, carrying it out until1,\vhen the movenient has been sutlicient, the teeth of the rack engage the pawl 40, which then'locks the rack and bar against inward movement. NOW at this time regardless oi' What happens either to the -air line, or Within th'ecylinder,

the bra'lre rod is positivelyv loeltedi in posi-V tion, so that the brailes [cannot be released until -the'engineer under Whose control the entire mechanism is placed', rdesires .to do so. 'In this Way, it will be seen that althougl'i the air pressure in the line may vary, or decrease due to leakage, the'bralres are positively locked so thatthe train cannot `move until desired; In this connection attention is called to thefact that, generally, the brake rod,-or piston rod, must move a mini- As a result this paWl is VVtheir normal position muni distance, (sayabout three .and a halt ineheslfifor what `is termed leakage groove,

before the vbrake rshall begin .to operate. Advantage'is taken of `this-'liant in the pres-Z entinventon-as set forth above.k 'lhe rack bar is not toothed or grooved throughout its entire length, but is left untoothed in that part of the rack bar that :will ride underthe loekingpawl during the-travel or the piston through the distance reii'erred to above. Con-v sequently at this time, when vthe brakes are being set, the dog is tripped, the .ear oft the tripping rod but since'the bar at this point is .neither grooved or toothed, vthe locking -paWl fl-O immediately drops back` to normal position, in '.vieWot the ifactthat the groove lOO'starts at about .the samepoi'nt on the bar as the rack. lVhcn .tl e brakes are however once set 'and locked as v'set forth above, the piston vand piston rod may return to their normal position and do so,

under the action of .the Vspringcv described above, theear oil` the tripping rod riding u-nder the dog Without reeijirocating the rocking arm due to the pivotedconnection between the arm` and the. dogl described above.

When however it is desired to release the brakesl and allow them to cease their braking action, Ythe 'engineer .once more applies the brake but itis only4 necessary to move the piston a Asmall distance, namely `unti'lfthe sliding or releasing arm St) through the rear, trips the dog. ln other Words,- regardless of: the pressure tha-thas been used in lsettingthe brakes, in order to unset them a minimun'r pressure onlyis required, one vto two. .pounds being general/lysufi'iicient dependingnn the length of the train and .other obvious con'.- siderations3 y n this4 Way -a remarkable sav,- ing in air is effected. this time the locking pavvl isv raised asdescrib'ed above. The releasing i'aivl is thus raised until it rests in the groove l0() and due to the spring .54;it is maintainedtherein.` In this position the r`releasing` paivl prevents the locking paivl from dropping on tothe rack ot' thebar l0.

'The locking` p'awl thus beingv held out of operativeengagement with the rack, thebar time, that the bar l() is travelling inwardly,

the releasing pawl is riding .in the groove l-OO until 1t reaches the beveled .edge lOl.

when it is thenurged voutfor the groove and drops to its normal position allowing the locking pawvltodrop` down-on toI the upper face of the bar l0. The `parts are nownin eration.

When .the releasing paWly has been broughtv into operative position as described above, it rides in the groove until itis forced ready tor repeated oplili() normal position. But it sometimes becomes necessary or desira-ble, to immediately apply the brakes ata time intermediate between their release as just set iorth above, and betore they have assumed their normal position. For this purpose, the emergency points referred to above have been supplied. Tf at any moment after the locking pawl has been released, and before theparts have resumed their normal position, it isdesired to apply thebrakes again, the engineer starts to operate them without waiting for the parts to assume their normal position, by applying the desired pressure. The inward movement of the bar 10 which .started at the releasing operation will be arrested and the bar 10 will reverse its movement, and begin to move outwardly. For theI time being however, were it not for the emergency points, the brakes could not be locked since the releasing pawl 50 would remain in the groove and maintain the locking pawl 40 above and out of contact with the rack" 11. The lockingpawl mustbe restored` to its contact with the rack 11 and .this is accomplished by the emergency points.\ lAs soon as thebar 10 reverses itsmovement as set forth above, the releasing'pawlrides m0# stopped its mov-ement, until it reaches the outer edge of the groove 100, when itwill drop olf and out of that groove, and thu-s allow the locking pawl once again to reengage the rack teeth 11. It will be obvious that such emergency points will enable immediate locking action of the bar and brakes to be secured at any time during the releasing operation, and will be more or less controlled by the number of emergency points that ai'e used.

Sometimes, when a car is switched oli' of a train or line ot cars, it is desirable to provide means whereby the brake may be released and restored by'hand. This is accomplished as follows. There is attached to the tripping arm 77 at a point preferably as far as possible from its upper end, a chain or equivalent device 90, which is adapte to be wound up or pulled over by a vertical i vhand brake staff similar to that now in use on hand brakes. It is obvious that when the element 90 is pulled over or wound up by the operation oit' the hand wheel, etc., the rocking arm 73 will be operated to release the locking pawl so that the brake rod may return to its normal position under-the action of the spring.

.At times it is desirable to use this invention without the releasing pawl, and in such cases the latter may be easily eliminated.

Such omission allows one to drop from a higher to a lower pressure without-inst going brake to the pres-surethat he desires to ap-` ply. As the ear 81 of the bar 80 passes the dogTS, the latter is tripped rocking the arm 73 and'moving the pawl out of contact with thevbar 10. At this time as j ust explained above, the throw of the brakes will tend to restore the parts to their normal position. This throwing action is due to the normal resistance of the brakes and is given more time to come into action due to the large ear on the tripping rod 8,0. As soon however as Vthe brake rod and piston rod-move backfto the point where. the rack bar 10 hasbeen locked, they cannot move further and arev therefore locked in the lower pressure position.A p f The cover plate 30 serves Ato protect the working parte against the entiiance ot dirt, etc., and may also be provided with oil cups, etc., in order to lubricate the working parts.

Having set iorth my invention, I claim:

e1. In brake mechanism, means tor locking the brake after being set, means for releasing the locking means, and emergency means ior unsetting the releasing means.

2. In brake mechanism, a holding bar, locking means operated by said holding bar to'lock the latter in operativev position, releasing means to release said locking means, and emergency means for unsetting the ref leasing means.

3. In brakemechanism, a holding bar, locking means ij'or lockingthe holding bar in operative position, means for releasing said locking means, and emergency means for unsetting the releasing means. y

4. In brake mechanism, a reciprocating holding bar, means for locking .said holding bar on initial movement, means for releasing said locking means, and emergency means for unsetting the releasing means.

5. In brake mechanism, a reciprocating holding bar, means Yfor locking the bar on initial movement, and means torrelea-sing the holding bar on further moven'ient there,- oii, and emergency means for unsetting the releasing means. v y

6. In brake mechanism, a fluid pressure cylinder, a reciprocable piston within said `cylinder operating under said fluid pressure,

a holding bar operated by said piston, means for locking saidholding bar upon movement of the piston, and means for releasing said locking means upon further operation oi said piston, and emergency means -for unsetting the releasingV means. l

7. In brake lmechanism, a holding bar, means for causing movement ot said bar,

Ilm

means for locking said' bar after such movement, means for releasing said locking means, and means 'for unsetting the releasing means.

8. Inbrake' mechanism, a holding bar, means for causing movement oi' said bar, means for locking said bar after such movement, means for releasing the locking means operated by the means for causing the movement of the holding bar, and means for un setting the releasing means.

9. in brake mechanism, a iinid pressure cylinder, a piston Within said cylinder operating under said i'lnid pressure, abrale rod operated by said piston, means for locking said brake rod in operative position upon reciprocation of said piston, means for releasing said locking means upon ini-ther reciprocation of said piston, and means for unsetting the releasing means.

10. In vbrake mechanism, a-holding bar provided With a rack, a paivl engaging said rack to lock the bar against movement in one direction, means for releasing said locking pawl, and means for unsetting the releasing means.

11. In brake mechanism, a holding bar provided with a rack, a paWl engaging said rack to lock the bar against movement in one direction, and means comprising a releasing pawl for releasing said locking bar, and emergency means Yi'or nnsetting the releasing means.

12. In brake mechanism, a holding bar provided with a rack, a paWl engagingsaid rack to lock said bar against movement in one direction, a groove in said`bar,a releasing paWl carried by said locking paWl and adapted to ride in the groove aforesaid and to keep the locking pawl from operative engagement with the said rack, and emergency means for nnsetting the releasing pavvl.

. 13. In brake mechanism, aholdingbar provided with a rack, a pavvl engaging said ing pawl ironr operative engagement With the said rack, means for removingsaid releasing pawl ont of said groove so `that the locking paWlv may reengage said rack, and emergency means for unsetting the releasing pawl.

15. In brake mechanism, a holding bar provided with a rack over a portion of oney face thereof a Groove in said bar and emerv b. gency points 1n said groove.

16. In brake mechanism, a holding bar` provided with a rack, alongitudinal groove in said bar, said groove being provided with teeth placed diagonally therein. n

17. In brake mechanism including brake locking and releasing device-s, means for unsetting the releasing device at any desired time. v

R. D. STROUP.. p 

